<p>Hi. I'm a 17 year old going into my senior year of high school.
My GPA as of now is: 2.5
My SAT is: 2400</p>
<p>My reasoning for my GPA being so low is the after math of a sexual assault.
My grades have had an upward trend since the incident which happened during my freshmen year. </p>
<p>I'm now struggling with my college process. I want to stay in Pittsburgh for family reasons but the colleges in Pittsburgh are competitive. </p>
<p>I'd love to go to university of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon university or Duquesne University, but I know they all are a reach. </p>
<p>I'm taking two AP classes this year and I also have a skew of EC's including community service hours, the leader of a club and student council. I've always taken honours classes so I'd expect that hold weight too. </p>
<p>Do you think I should write a stellar essay and hope for the best? Thanks. </p>
<p>Absolutely. No doubt about it. Do apply to a 4yr. However, don’t just hope for the best. </p>
<p>If your guidance counselor is not aware of the situation and you don’t trust him or her with this information, speak to a trusted teacher or staff member about your situation and get his or her ideas about whom to approach in the guidance office. You will probably need a guidance counselor who can confirm what you say in your stellar essay or who can make note of the event thoroughly enough that you don’t have to address it yourself. These schools will need to know the reason for the inconsistency between SAT and GPA in order to make a positive decision. Your information will be held in the strictest confidence. Admissions officers see reports of this type every year.</p>
<p>Alternatively, you could begin in a community college, rock your cc GPA, and apply in a year or two, depending on the 4yr college’s requirements. You’re a very brave person, and college could be like starting anew in a kingdom where you’re the princess. Which is to not to say that princesses always have it easy. Your SAT, however, indicates that school is your kingdom and you’re going to rule it some day.</p>
<p>You will have to consider how to pay for college, and you should consider that some day soon. We can help when you’re ready.</p>
<p>That was extremely wonderful of you. It’ has given me a little more faith in myself to at least apply. Is there anything extra I can do to help myself?</p>
<p>Your academic profile is pretty well set. However, you can make a significant statement this fall by doing really well in your courses. What have you signed up for?</p>
<p>In addition to dealing with the guidance counselor recommendation issue, take a look at the Financial Aid pages of each of the three schools. There you will find something called a net price calculator. This tool can provide you with an estimate of what need-based or grant aid each school is likely to provide you and an estimate of what each school is likely to ask you and your family to pay. In order to complete each npc, you’ll need your parents’ help in the form of tax statements from last year and other financial information that they might be hesitant to share with you. They will have to provide this information to the schools and the government before you will be able to receive any financial aid, so tell them it’s important to have this information now (and not have to wait til they complete the school and govt forms in January) so that you can determine if you can afford any of these schools. You yourself may only borrow $5500 dollars the first year, so you will need other sources of support such as that from the school and your parents. The npcs will produce something called an Expected Family Contribution, which is the amount each school expects your family to contribute to your education each year. If your family cannot provide that much (and many families cannot), you will have to find other resources or other schools. Better to know this now than later. There are other resources and of course there are several thousand schools 
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<p>look into Point Park University if you an urban feel. That would be a safety for you.</p>
<p>This school year, I signed up for AP Microeconomics, AP Psychology, English 12, Spanish 2, and Anatomy & Phisology. Plus my minors, I’m gonna attempt to get straight A’s but I’m not sure how much it will do since I need to apply really early to these colleges (probably as early as October). </p>
<p>I’ll be fine with financial aid, even though my gpa is ideal. I have gotten scholarships. </p>
<p>I will look into Point Park University, too. Thank you.</p>
<p>Your SAT score should help a lot. If you can let colleges know why your gpa is low, then there should be no problem. Your SAT score shows that you are smart enough for those colleges. An upward trend is always good to see. Maybe you can bring up your gpa before you send it to colleges. An essay explaining your struggles would suffice</p>
<p>Yeah, I know that I’m intelligent enough to handle a workload like Carnegie and Pitt. I’m just worried they would give me a full chance because of my GPA. I know the want you to think that their colleges are holistic but I can’t compete with others who may have gotten a 3.8 even though I’m capable of getting that too. </p>
<p>You just don’t know, princess. Your SAT to GPA ratio is very unusual, and that alone will get someone’s attention. There’s almost certainly a Pittsburgh area college that will accept you next year, especially if the GPA comes up. Don’t doubt the importance of having a good semester. Some schools won’t make their final decisions until after your first semester grades are available. Even if you apply to Pitt now (you can do that, and they’ll get back to you in weeks), they might just waitlist you to see what happens with your GPA. The better schools will be waiting to see that you’ve turned the corner emotionally and academically and that you can thrive at their school. </p>
<p>Thank you for your list of courses. What math are you taking this year? what maths have you taken thus far?</p>
<p>About the money issue, I’m not sure how to read what you wrote: “I’ll be fine with financial aid, even though my gpa is ideal. I have gotten scholarships.” Does that mean you don’t need FA, that your family is willing to put out the full cost of attendance, upto 240K, over four years? Do the scholarships you mention refer to college scholarships?</p>
<p>I’ll be sure to keep that in mind when I’m applying.
I actually decided against taking a math this year but may change that decision once I start school. I’ve taken Geometry and Algerbra 1&2.
I apologize for the way I worded it. I meant to say that I’m not too worried about the money part as of late. I’ve been offered many college scholarships even though my gpa isn’t what it could or should be.</p>
<p>First, calculate your weighted-GPA. It might be a little better. Since you’re taking some AP classes, and say that your grades have improved, you have probably completed the basic prerequisites for most four-year colleges. That’s something you should double-check, though, because many universities (espeially public ones) are fussy about that. Most admissions offices will jump up and take notice of those test scores, though, and will be very forgiving about other shortcomings. If your GPA were just a little higher, I would even suggest one or two elite schools that are known for preferring high scorers, but I think your grades probably rule them out. I think that those scores give you a decent shot at Pitt, and an excellent shot at Duquesne. CMU might be a tougher sell, but talk to your college adviser about it. If your high school has a good relationship with CMU, and you think that they will back you up, it might be worth a try. On the other hand, if a lot of your classmates with excellent grades and scores almost as good as yours are applying to CMU, you will probably not get in. You should have no trouble getting into a college like Penn State - Greater Allegheny. If you are willing to venture out of town a little further, you should consider Indiana U of PA and Slippery Rock, and - if you think your recommendations, essays, etc. will be strong - even look at Dickinson. </p>
<p>^ You can only calculate a WGPA if the HS actually uses weighting. You can’t make up a weighting framework on your own. Ask your GC if there is one and what your GPA is using that.</p>
<p>I’m not of the same mind about chances for Pitt except one of the branch campuses. A branch campus might be a good way to get onto the main campus in a year or two. </p>
<p>Question: if I apply from a branch campus with all the requirements, will it be like reapplying for college all over again?</p>
<p>–I’ve been offered many college scholarships even though my gpa isn’t what it could or should be.–</p>
<p>are these scholarships for particular colleges? if so, are any of the colleges the half dozen suggested by you and others? </p>
<p>Along with Pitt, I recommend a fourth math course, such as pre-calc, OP. The better schools will expect it.</p>
<p>what are the possible majors? where do you see yourself in seven years?</p>
<p>They aren’t for particular colleges. I got a scholarship from my church and from another organization I’m apart of. I’ve also wrote some essays that got me scholarship money. </p>
<p>My major would be engineering so I will take pre-calc. </p>
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<p>Weighted GPA is only relevant if the college uses a weighted GPA, and you calculate it according to the college’s weighting rules. Weighted GPA using your high school’s weighting rules is typically meaningless, except in an indirect sense if your high school uses it to do class rank.</p>
<p>^ This is entirely college dependent. Alabama will use the HS WGPA for its scholarship qualifications.</p>